Just got a notice from my parts supplier in Shenzhen.
All businesses in Shenzhen, China's manufacturing hub, are closed effective immediately for an indefinite period. That includes all shipping companies including FedEx. NOTHING is going in or out of the most important manufacturing hub in the world right now, and there is no timeframe on when it may reopen.
Supposedly, this is due to a Coronavirus outbreak. We all know that reason is crap. I suspect the invasion of Taiwan is about to begin. Can't think of any other event big enough to warrant this.
Just thought I would pass along the information in case anyone had any doubts.
Company I work for has an office in Shenzhen and a lot of our vendors are there. Can confirm a lockdown for this entire week. Nothing moving in or out. As well, all public transportation has been shut down.
I wonder if this stops global production from lack or parts, or possibly slowing it instead due to lower supply from diversified production locations (ie India, Mexico, US, etc...).
I guess it would depend on each company's contracts & risk prevention plans.
There are some parts out there in stock but not a lot. And companies that have stock are going to charge a premium for that stock. Look for additional price increases on anything electronic.
And if this is a prelude to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, well that's not going to be a pretty scene at all, at least in the short term.
I hope everyone here has a good stock of essentials like food, water and precious metals (lead included).
It's only for a week at the moment. It'll inevitably slow or shut down some stuff, but plenty of places will have some inventory to work with, or can restructure workflows a bit to stretch things for a week or a few. It'll be a disruption, but I don't think shelves are gonna go bare or anything. Biggest impacts will probably be technology hardware, where processors and parts are already scarce to begin with.
This makes the most sense. I was thinking almost everything is chopped today, even many toasters. I am thinking mostly manufacturing will have some issues, though I wonder how long before that ripple hits retail, or if it will be notices at all on a retail level.